Just for a moment a game of rugby threatened to interrupt another parade by the world champions. But normal service, as we have grown accustomed to it, was quickly restored and England did the rounds of their impregnable fortress, where so many World Cup plans were laid, to yet another rapturous reception. They were all there, those that had played for their clubs earlier in the day, those still resting and those that had played in what turned out to be a festival occasion against the New Zealand Barbarians. Two captains were there, Martin Johnson, dapper in his overcoat and unscarred despite Leicester's defeat, and Richard Hill, skipper for the day and bloodied and battered as he always seems to be. He had played his part, indispensable as ever, and now he was on one final victory lap of honour, inconspicuous and unassuming as ever.

The highlight of the day was this après match. There may come a time when the country tires of delivering pats on the back and bracing into Swing Low..., but that day has not yet arrived. What came after the game was the Webb Ellis Cup plonked on the grass, which was more important than the 80 minutes of action that were designed with rather more prosaic motives in mind. England may be world champions, but you still have to raise some cash and filling Twickenham is the most obvious way to do it.

It is no time to carp but it would be nice if a fraction of the proceeds could go to the poorer rugby nations. Fat chance. The dosh is needed to keep the rugby revolution alive in the land where the game is suddenly sex on legs. England hardly need to work on making the gap between themselves and the chasing pack even wider. They won the World Cup with a professional attention to detail and long-term plans minutely laid. Now they showed that they could assemble a side hastily better than anyone else also.

By the end of the game the New Zealand Barbarians were worn out. They had played their part and even given England a scare or two in the first half. They even managed a late try. But between these two contributions they were given the runaround.

England scored six tries, two of them by Ben Cohen, who proved that if he had not had as many opportunities in Australia as he would have liked then he had not forgotten how to run with appetite and authority. There were only four from the World Cup final starting line-up, but they were more than enough. Jason Robinson combined with Cohen as a deadly duo in attack, while Trevor Woodman locked up the scrum and Hill simply locked up the entire team. As in doing it all together. As he always does.

When he was not around - he disappeared for facial repairs in the first half - England entered their dodgy period. When he returned everything was sweet. Just like the World Cup. The man is a marvel. Not so marvellous was the contribution of Troy Flavell, the Barbarians second-row. The big lock from North Harbour has won 15 caps for the All Blacks and scored five tries, three of them in his first game, against Tonga. He even scored one here, the opening try. And he even managed to prevent a try by turning over James Simpson-Daniel on the tryline. Those were the good bits.

All around them Flavell was a stiff-arm-waving troublemaker. He clouted several England players in the face, most noticeably - and most inexcusably - the bruised old visage of the captain himself. Off went Hill again, pumping even more blood from his nose. He is a great player, but he is always a mess. Perhaps the two are linked.

When Flavell was in legitimate mood, England found themselves struggling. After that opening try Glen Jackson added a penalty and although England had opened the scoring with a penalty of their own, by Paul Grayson, they trailed by seven points.

Just into the second quarter and with Hill back on the field, they found their seat and Cohen found the tryline. It was an old Northampton ploy. Grayson kicked a penalty to himself and punted high to the corner where Cohen out-jumped Jorrie Muller and Diego Albanese for the ball.

For the second try, Stuart Abbott, who grew in stature as the game progressed but who still needed to be able to give and take a pass quickly, burst through the middle, past a static Daryl Gibson, and set up a ruck from which Grayson scored a try. Strangely, he could not add the conversion that was even easier.

It seemed for a time that such a miss might be important. England were still only three points ahead at the interval. But from the very start of the second period they were in total control. Joe Worsley ran clear straight from the restart and England set up camp for the next half an hour in the opposition 22. They slotted a penalty just to give themselves a breathing space and then came Cohen's second try.

Again, it was from a quickly taken penalty, this time Andy Gomarsall tapping and feeding the winger as he cut infield. The 21-year-old prop Matt Stevens of Bath had already attracted attention with a storming run in the first half. Now England sent on another barnstorming charger, Andy Sheridan, who is in the process of being converted from the back five into the front three. Not easy at 6ft 5in, but Sheridan can shift weights like nobody else and can toss defenders aside like few others. He came on, thundered forward and Stevens did likewise for the try.

The rhythm of England's attacks was interrupted briefly as Flavell launched a few mini-attacks of his own and got away with it. He was warned a couple of times, but perhaps everybody thought nobody would do anything too nefarious at such a party. Perhaps Flavell is not a party animal.

Anyway, England scored two more tries, one by Simpson-Daniel after another high kick by Grayson towards Cohen. This time the ball bobbled from the left wing's hands into the right wing's.

The final try was scored by Mike Tindall, another of the World Cup final starters who came on to a massive round of applause. He celebrated by running in from 10 yards to seal the victory.

This was a nice touch given that Simon Shaw, brilliant throughout, had nearly spoilt things by gifting a try with an over ambitious offload. The party could not be spoilt by such an act. Tindall scored, England paraded and Jason Leonard received a special gift for his 113 caps. It was all very gooey after the hardness of the game. It was something we shall have to get used to.

Man of the match

Simon Shaw Overdid it in the last 10 minutes when his offloads fell into enemy hands, but before that everything he tried was a wonderful blend of big bloke in supreme control and soft hands full of sweet promise. The big second row shoved and heaved and then ran about issuing wonderful passes to all the little blokes around him.